june music and such

June, June, June...what happened in June...

• we are starting to make some sense out of our house. almost all the boxes are unpacked or put away (in the basement.) It remains to be seen if we'll ever unpack all those boxes.


• I guess the biggest event is that we left the boys with grandma and the rest of us went up to chicago for a little get away. We were joined by some people from church and I attended an arts and worship conference at Willow Creek. The girls did shopping and all that stuff during the day and at night we'd go into the city for dinner and activites. We also made it to Ikea a few times and spent way to much money, but got some good deals on furniture and kitchen stuff - every thing you need to start new in a house.


• the boys completed and graduated from their first class of swim lessons and spend almost every day at the pool.
  
• I took the boys to their first drive-in - Wall E and Kung Fu Panda - and they both stayed awake the whole night.

Here are the albums I picked up:

Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant EP & Self-Titled

Listen here.

I picked up both of these on a whim in Chicago. This is the third band this year that I have purchased music from with the work "fox" in their name. I have heared the fleet foxes described as "baroque harmonic pop jams." To me it is sunny acoustical folk w/ a little light rock with chorus singing that leans sometimes to the beach boys and sometimes to bluegrass. it is different from my usual tastes, but maybe not that different. A welcome change.

Coldplay - viva la vida

listen here.

I actually bought this album on vinyl. I hear the cd is going the way of the cassette tape, but vinyl is forever. (my vinyl version came with the CD.) I am really digging this album. Yes, it sound more like U2 than ever, but the songs are good. Okay, they are influenced by U2, Radiohead, and My Bloody Valentine on this album. The mbv reference is mostly in some sonic guitar textures and part B of "Yes." I would like to hear a whole album of that shoegaze goodness. I can't wait to hear this material live.

Sigur Ros - med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust

Listen here.

Yeah, not my favorite album cover, but it is supposed to emote the happiness and joy of summertime. I wasn't sure I wanted to hear a sigur ros album so soon, especially in june. Their music is heavy...a lot to take in. But this album is a summer album and it does have that joy. The music incorporates a more acoustical and organic approach that includes enough messiness that it still creates the sigur ros sound. Very good and very beautiful.

May Music and Such

FINALLY...Okay here were are mid-June, so what happened in May? It seems ages ago. I'll try to remember:

• The old house is under contract pending inspections. The only major issues are some electrical clean-up and of coarse to mitigate the randon that everyone has under their basement.
• We started collecting boxes from everyone and we are very grateful to those who contributed. With boxes in hand we started to dissassemble our house and pack everything away. I think the boys favorite part of this process was when we had their mattresses and our matress all lined up in our room to form a huge bed. It was great for gymnastics. This allowed me time to dissassemble their bunk beds after their bed time.
• We saw a show at the Uptown Theater - The Swell Season - Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova form this band and were in the movie and sountrack ONCE.
• We soon had a pod from PODS delivered to our house. There is going to be a 2 week gap between the time we have to be out of our house to the time we can move in to our new house. We started packing this container full of furniture and boxes. We also made multiple trips to my parents house to store more valuable stuff in their garage.
• We had to do inspections at our new house. In general there seemed to be a lot of paperwork and negotiating going on this month. Our realtor was great and continued to suprise us. During inspections, we met a lot of new neighbors and our boys made friends with the boys next door who are the same age. Within 5 minutes they are all out riding wheels in the cul-de-sac.
• The big day came to move entirely out of our house. We had to be out by 5pm. A long and busy Saturday followed a very late Friday night. We weren't quite out by 5pm. A little after 5pm we were taking the last load over to my sister-in-laws house in my dad's truck when the new owner shows up with her parents. We has so little time to move, that we left the place a mess. I felt bad and we still and to come back for a few small things, like trash and trash cans. We apologized for leaving marks on the wall and showed here were all the paint was. It wasn't really a big mess, but we had patched nail holes in the wall and hadn't yet painted them and we also didn't get to do that final vacuum and sweep.
• My sister-in-law just left to trave Asial for a couple of weeks, so we stayed at her house during that time. She has no phone, we have no phone, so we, for the first time actually used our mobile phones.
• Brian came in to visit and we met him at Homer's Thursday night. After church on Sunday, we met him and the kids and Deb at Chuck E Cheese so that the kids could play around. And for the main event on Monday, Brian and I hit it at Oklahoma Joe's BBQ and then to Starlight to see the Cure. Good show.
• Memorial day weekend we took the kids to Silver Dollar City in Branson for a couple of days and then visited my Grandparents in Arkansas. Silver Dollar City is so much fun, but with the little kids, we can only do about 6 hours a day and go at a slow pace. They love it and I love it.
• For a couple of weeks, we had a very large sum of money sitting in our bank. But we had to take the large check with us to close on the house. Signed a bunch of papers, pick and insurance company and a home warranty, blah blah blah.
• So on the last day of the month, we has some friend join us to load a few things in a truck that was over at my parents and then unload the POD. We topped off the moving day by treating everyone to Z-Man's and fries at Oklahoma Joe's BBQ.
• We were too pooped to unpack and set-up. We plopped mattresses down on the floor and threw some sheets on them and crashed.
• I am glad that is all over with now. I don't want to move again for a very long long time.

Here are some albums I picked up in May:

The Weepies - Hideaway
listen here.

The Weepies are a husband/wife folk/pop/rock band. They both share singing duties. We listened to this a lot on our way down to Silver Dollar City. It is a good album with strong songs and memorable melodies. Very catchy, even my 5 year old sings along to ANT -ARRR - TICAAA. For fans of The Innocence Mission, Over the Rhine, Leigh Nash, Simon and Garfunkle.

El Perro Del Mar - From the Valley to the Stars

listne here.

I love this album. It's like a dream - real hazzy. The songs kinda drift in and out. This Swede's 2nd full length (I believe) is not as sad sounding as her last album and even has a few '60's sounding girl pop songs. Those are placed so you won't be lulled asleep by the church organs. It seems like the music is minimal but the effect is very lush.

Joy Electric - My Grandfather, the Cubist
listen here.

I have been listening to this album non-stop the last few weeks. I could not wait to here this album. I am a fan and look forward to every release, but this one had controversy. When the release date came, I could not find the album in any stores, so I had to order it on-line and wait for delivery. In the meantime, I read on the internet of fans reation to this latest album. The music was minimal and the vocals were raw. A singular raw vocal to go with the minimal effect of the album. I was concerned about the vocals. I like ronnies vocal's with all the effects - the reverb, the multil layers, the harmonies - everything that makes his voice sound lush. People were saying they hated these dry and raw vocals and others were saying that this was a brilliant album. I couldn't wait to hear it and decide for myself. Finally it came. The music is his best- very melodic and easy on the ears. The songs are some of his best, very catchy and melodic and easy to sing or hum along. The vocals are not that bad. Yes, they sound a little different than his usually style, but he has shown hints of these vocals before- but not in a whole album. The vocals work because the songs are so strong and the music is so good. I will rate this album high in the joy electric canon and I feel that Cubist will have lasting power. I do hope, though, that he will return to his lush vocal style.

April - music and such

To me, April seemed like a really long month. I can't remember time slowing down since I was in school.

Here is a list of events that happened in the month of April:

• We finished up all our housework and put our house on the market.
• I coached Eliot's YMCA soccer team through their 6 sessions. It was really low key.
• We continued to take Ewan to his soccer clinic althought there were quite a few rainouts.
• I was selected to contribute a piece of art for the "Genesis 15" exhibit for the Imago Dei art center.
• I made my way down to Wichita to be an evaluator for visual arts, film, and design for the Kansas Fine Arts Festival. This is for junior and high school students.
• For work, I made a day trip up to Chicago to tour a facility. We had some extra time, so we traveled north to Kenosha, Wisconsin to visit the Jelly Belly factory. Later, for dinner we ate at Bob Chinn's Crabhouse Restaurant.
• We had two solid weeks of showing our house, which meant we were kicked out about every day for 2-3 potential buyers to look at our spotless house.
• I did the dishes every night during this period.
• We sold our house for more than we thought we'd get.
• We spent a few days with our realtor looking at houses meeting with bankers, etc.
• Finished up a set of permit drawings and got them off to the city. The last two weeks of this took a lot of my time.
• One week after selling our house, we found one and made an offer. The accepted for less than what we thought we'd have to pay.
• And now we are packing furiously.

...and I manged to pick up a few albums...thanks in part to a "gift" I received for being an art evaluator. (I'll try to make this quick.)

R.E.M. - Accelerate

Listen here.

I know a lot of critics have been saying that this REM's comeback album and a return to rock - which is true. Overall the album is pretty good, but I am not sure I am a big fan of REM's rock. I think their strength lies in the mid-tempo. The album starts out with it's rock, but then settles into what I think is the better part of the album.

Moby - Last Night

Listen here.

I like this album - it is just good fun. It is suppose to be celebrating a night out in NYC - from the upbeat to the chill-out. Some have criticized it for sounding like Moby in the early '90's. I don't get why it is okay for new bands to blatantly be stealing from the '80's or '90's but when an established artist (who was part of the creation of that scene) creates something a little retro, that is a no no.

The Foxglove Hunt - Stop Heartbeat

Listen here.

Brilliant!!!

It is hard to seriously take some of these new bands that are borrowing they '80's sound from some of my favorite bands. I mean, they like dropped out of high school two years ago to join a band and their musical canon is only 6 years deep. There is a difference from listening to a few New Order records and growing up and being immersed in the culture that created those sounds. I am happy to say that Rob (Fine China) and Ronnie (Joy Electric) are products from the '80's and understand the elements of creating good synth pop music. Afterall, they are about my age or older. It's is getting harder to trust young bands.

Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid

Listen here.

I don't know what possesed me to buy this album. I don't have any of their previous music. I saw an add in the paper for $7.99. Something told me that this would be a good album. I love it. Sonically it is amazing- a great studio album. It is a "whole" album that must be listened from beginning to end and some of the most beautiful songs that I have heard in quite some time. On the back page of the booklet, I see TurnMeUp.org Basically, this album was recorded with the intention of quite parts and loud parts. The website talks how most modern music is recorded to be at the same volume level (loud), well you should check out the website if you care about the info...

M83 - Saturdays=Youth

Listen here.

A new album from my favorite French digital shoegaze band. M83 is mostly seen as an electronic band, but with this record they seem to take on the structure of a rock band - and a good one. The focus of this album is to capture the nostalgia of youth.

Portishead - Third
Listen here.

I have been waiting for this album for a long time. It does not disappoint. Gone are the trip-hop beats replaced with experimental, yet it sound like the same band and different from any other band right now. I have been listening to this quite a bit. It is challenging and there are quite a few layers to uncover.

home

We just signed a contract on a new house.

We have two weeks left in our current house.

We need to pack quickly.

Oh boy!

house

We just sold our house.

We need to buy a house, soon.

Oh boy!

one year

About a year has passed since I got back from a trip I took to Italy with my dad.

I should probably post some pictures or tell some stories since I have had time to reflect.

We'll see.

March Music 2008

2008 is going to be a great year for new music, unfortunately it won't start 'till April. I think over the last 3 months all of my new music has been from last year or later.

Here are the albums I picked up this month. I had some help from Paste Magazine. They were selling their entire inventory for $5 a cd. They will no longer be selling music. I picked up these first two albums from them. I had always intended on picking them up, but time got away from me. The price was more than right; I had no excuse.


The Choir - O How the Mighty Have Fallen
Listen here.

O why did I wait so long to get this album. It is a few years old. I am a longtime Choir fan from way back to my casette days, back when there were decent bands in the christian music scene. I admit I was a bit disappointed with their last album "Flap your Wings" which came out around 2000/2001??? But this album captures everything that is perfect about the Choir - swirling dreamy guitars, inteligent/literate/poetic christian verse, rightly placed woodwinds, harmonies, more dreamy guitars, and intricate percussion. Without the help of a label, I believe this was and internet order only cd and I just lost track of getting it. My mistake.


All Things Bright and Beautiful - Love and Affection
Listen here.

This is Lee Bozeman's (Luxury) solo project. He lives in Kansas City now and I have seen a few shows around town, but I don't think he has performed in a while. Wow this album is beautiful in an artistic way. It is all art. It is all concept. This is probably one of the most christian centered albums you will ever hear, that would probably be banned from most Christian bookstores. On one somber song the singer confesses his sin and his hypocrisy and the song ends with a laugh track as if the audience is laughing at his confession. It is real powerful. I wonder if this is a real fear that most christians have when confessing their sins to one another.

Kate York - ep
Listen here.

A singer/songwriter in the folk/americana tradition. She has a great cover of Boys Don't Cry by the Cure.
The Swell Season - by Glen Hansard and Market Irglova
Listen here.

I loved the movie ONCE and the soundtrack that followed. ONCE is about the meeting and friendship of an Irish guy and Chech girl over music and making music together. These are real musicians. Glen Hansard is in the band the Frames and I saw them open for Damien Rice a few years ago. The Swell Season is the album that paired these two musicians together before the movie. It has some of the songs in the movie. It is good, real good. If you like acoustic music with guitar, piano, cellos, lots of mood, male and female vocals, aching lyrics, walking through leaves on the ground, etc., than this album is for you.


A Place to Bury Strangers - Self-titled
Listen here.

I picked this up when I saw them live at the Record Bar. This is a shoegazer band that more noisepop than dreampop. Loud, loud, loud, noisy guitars. They are more like the Jesus and Mary Chain than Slowdive.


Foxtail Somersault - Fathom ep
Listen here.

This band seems real promising. 5 songs on their first ep are dreampop goodness with airy female vocals. I look forward to a full album.

my first solo show

A Place to Bury Strangers at the Record Bar.

One of my favorite forms of entertainment is live music. At my age going to shows is becoming more and more difficult. Late nights (not really a problem for me), family, funds, other interest, conflicts etc. get in the way of going to shows. One of the biggest hurdles is finding someone who is like-minded to go to shows with. Your average mid-30 something guy isn't really into music or at least to the extent of shelling out 10 bucks to check out some obscure indie rock band that you know is on to something but is unknown to the public at large.

This was not problem when Brian was in town. He'd say "show?" I'd say "when?" But he has moved on to Portland and when he comes to visit we always find a good show. This year we have Cure tickets.

I still check the paper to see who is coming through town and have missed many good bands. So, I finally decided to go by myself. This is odd for me. I have always been a "have a friend with you sort of guy." I must admit I have always been afraid of standing around and looking out of place. I remember as a young kid seeing a guy eat alone at a diner and I felt sorry for him. I thought to myself, I will never eat alone (in public)- I can always get it to go and eat alone at home.

I realize now that it is a matter of confidence. So after the kids where tucked in bed, I went to my first show alone. It wasn't bad. When the bands were playing no big deal. The only awkwardness was between bands, when everyone tends to group up with their friends and you try to look purposeful.

I'll definitely do it again, but I will see if Looney or somebody wants to tag along. It is alway more fun to have someone to talk to.


*****

Listening:

The Seventy Sevens - the Lust, the Flesh, the Eyes, and the Pride of Life
Ladytron - amTV
The Jesus and Mary Chain - I Hate Rock N Roll
The Innocence Mission - Joan
St. Vincent - All My Stars Aligned

I Can't Resist...

I am an email junkie.

At work, I have my office email and my gmail opened all the time. When I see that I have new mail, I can not resist the urge to drop whatever I am doing to check it. I am doubly excited to check my gmail, because it will not be work releated.

However, I am not so excited to see the dreaded light on my phone indicating that I have voicemail. I am relieved when it is only my wife calling.

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Currently listening:

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Starflyer 59 - no revolution

Maps - it will find you

Run Lola Run - supermarket

Keane - a bad dream

Bill Mallonee/Victory Garden - flowers

What is going in my iPod...(cont'd)

Here are some older albums from my collection that I recently (in the last few months) loaded to my ipod: Shepherd - Committing to Tape

Ronnie martin put down the keyboard and created a really sparse guitar album of slow sad songs.

Portishead - Portishead

I love the sound, feel, and atmosphere of this spy sounding trip-hop album. Portishead is suppose to release a new album this year. It's about time.

The Verve - Urban Hymns

The Verve - A Northern Soul

I was in a Verve mood. I love both these albums. Very smoothy and vibey. The Verve broke up but are back together now recording new music.

Boards of Canada - Music has the Right to Children

Good electronic music.

Starflyer 59 - the Last Laurel ep

Starflyer 59 - Fell in Love at 22 ep

Starflyer 59 - Easy Come Easy Go (1994-2000)

Starflyer 59 - Americana

Okay, SF59, one of my all-time favorite bands. They do not dissappoint. I almost have their whole collection on my ipod - just a few more to download.

Sixpence None the Richer - Divine Discontent

I've been buying a lot of music similar to 6p, so it is only right the I dust off these old records. Another band that broke up and now is recording again.

February Music

Here are some albums I picked up this month:


Bill Mallonee - Circa
Listen here.

Circa is a compilation of 15 songs of the 50-100 songs he wrote and recorded for his fan subscription service. This album is raw and honest and contains some of Bill finest songwriting. The music is stripped down to mostly and acoustic guitar and voice, sometimes backed up with a piano and harmonizing vocals. With his lyrics, it really doesn't need much more.

Johann Johannsson - Englaborn

Listen here.

Johann is an icelandic composer of mostly ambient strings with slight electronics. I found this album in the symphonic section at the record store. I was in the mood for something different and out of the typical rock/song context.

Lucena - Mercury Light e.p. Listen here.

Thanks to the internet, I stumbled upon this band. For fans of Fold Zandura and Mortal, this is Jyro Xhans new band. I don't think he goes by that moniker anymore. Lucena picks up right where Fold Zan left off with their brand shoegaze/dreampop. This is just a 6 song e.p. (available on iTunes) done totally independent of independent labels. It's not bad at all and I look forward to a full release.

Minipop - A New Hope

Listen here.

A great dreampop album with a voice somewhere between the Sundays and Sixpence. It's funny that I mentioned Fold Zandura above, because one of Minipop's songs has a sound that reminded me quite a bit of Fold Zan back in the day.

The Brother Kite - Waiting for the Time to be Right

Listen here.

Sounds like a guitar jangle pop and dreampop mix somewhere between Toad the Wet Sprocket and the Lassie Foundation. Listen to Get On, Me on their myspace page. It is a perfect song. This album contains the sounds and feelings of everything I loved about my college music in the mid-90's.

music theory 2

All this discussion on music has made me think of the age old question that many have pondered in the arts.

Is it possible to be commercially successful and still maintain your artistic credibility?

I have always been interested in the compromise between the art and commercial success. In my architectural world, we are governed by clients, budget, and function. That is not alway true, but more likely a client will not give you free reign to explore your artistic endeavors. But architecture is not really a fair example, because the outcome is more of a collaboration than a singular vision.

How about the music biz? A major label wants hits and chart success. They want the bands or singers they represent to make money for their buisiness. How is this acheived and what is the artist's responsibility to achieve this? (I have read many accounts of labels hiring hitmakers to come in and write songs.)

Or can your art be so good that it wins people over thus bringing comercial success?

It is no secret that major labels and the music business in general is struggling. People no longer look to the radio to find music and MTV forgot about the music. With the web, independent bands are gaining popularity through websites, myspace, and youtube so that many of them don't need the major label to provide the marketing to make them successful.

...to be continued.

*****

Currently Listening:

Starflyer 59 - Not Funny
Kate Bush - Heads Were Dancing
Starflyer 59 - The Boulevard
Charity Empressa - Golden Gate
Over the Rhine - Paper Moon
Keane - Everybody's Changing

music theory

I have failed in life.

I should have been a musician or is it too late? Because I feel like I got the music in me.

*******

This weekend, I was in a discussion with a friend who happens to be a musician and I think I got a little too deep on him.

Jokingly, I was questioning his pick for music at a party. I never had him pegged for a guy who listened to that type of music. He told me as a musician he has to appreciate and respect all types of music. Which I agree with to some extent in that you can find good in all different music styles. But then I pressed on…

What is the difference between a musician and an artist (in a musical sense)? Yes, they can be one in the same and yet they can be miles apart…like a drafter to an architect. A musician can be fine with all different styles of music and at one with the world, but I think an artist is more discerning. A musician can play music, an artist can make music. It is my opinion that an artist has to be critical, that is how an artist forms their vision for their work to create something that is unique. I believe that an artist strives for beauty, emotion, and a connection with the human soul and cannot settle for music that is market driving and formulaic.

It wasn’t so much a discussion on different styles of music. It was about good music vs. bad music and why do people settle for bad music. Certain genres are more likely to produce bad music, but you can still find gems.

And then my friend made the mistake about talking about technical ability. A musician can be technically good, but only an artist can write a good song. What happens a lot in music is that you have a band that wants to prove how good and technical they are, that they miss the whole notion of creating something that connects with people. Sure, they will connect with musical geeks who are into technical abilities. An artist can be very technical too, but they know how to use it…as in editing their ability for the greater good of the song, not to prove their ability.

I don’t know if my terms of musician and artist are the correct terms for this discussion, but it is the best I can come up with now. I am defining an artist as a musician plus that something special, call it magic. Artists write their own music guided by their own principles and theories. A musician…as someone who can play music.

Anyway, what is this mess above about? I wish that I had the musical skills to back me up. I am all talk and no action. Theories, sure, I’ve got loads of theory. But what good are they if I can’t implement them?

I guess that makes me a critic. I hate critics.

January music

January is always a fun month for buying music. Usually I have a couple of gift cards from Christmas to spend. Since nothing new or worthwhile is being released this month, I picked up a few 2007 releases that I've had my eye on.


Bat for Lashes - Fur and Gold
Listen here.

I first discovered this British band by watching their video "what's a girl to do" and I liked the vibe. Their video is very cool, look for it on their myspace page. Their music is in parts minimal trip-hop, dreamy, and spooky.


Bill Mallonee and Victory Garden - Permafrost
Listen here.

Bill is one America's best songwriters and is probably the least recognized. I have decided that I need to complete my VOL/Bill Mallonee catelog of his music. Maybe one album a month. Permafrost was his latest album from last year. I would have like to have gotten a hardcopy, but he is selling all his albums digitally for 7.99 and his albums are not available in standard record stores, so...


The National - Aligator
Listen here.

The National's Boxer (2007) was my number 1 album of 2007. I was curious about their earlier release "Aligator." Musically it is very good and contains the sort of texture and atmosphere found on "Boxer", but I think it lacks the cohesion that makes "Boxer" the masterpiece that it is. But still very good. This band is for real.

Caribou - Andorra
Listen here.

I recently discovered that a band that I lost track of. Manitoba put out a release back in early 2000's that I loved called "up in flames." They were electronic and experimental and sounded a bit like an electronic version of My Bloody Valentine. I guess at some point they were told they can not use the name Manitoba and changed their name to Caribou. I didn't find that out until this year and discovered that they have serveral releases inbetween. This album is more of a pop record with traditional song structures and vocals vs. straight up electronic and experimental. The music itself is still dreamy with a bit of the '60's thrown in and the vocals sound similar to Wayne Everett of the Lassie Foundation.

Sigur Ros - Heima
Watch trailer here.

Ah yes, can I love this band any more? This film follows the Sigur Ros in their native Iceland through a series of several performances in where they give back to their people. The shows are free and are played in a variety of venues: abandonded buildings, off the shore, hills and land, in churches/community centers, city centers. I really appreciated the humanness and humility of the band and the people of Iceland. The film is also beautifully stunning the way it intermixes the landscape with the music.

Starflyer 59 - Ghosts of the Future: Issue #5 and #8.

Listen here.

Mr. Martin acoustic is the winner here. Broken Arm was recording with and sung by David Bazan of Pedro the Lion.

What is going in my iPod...(cont'd)

Here are some albums that I recently dusted off the shelf and loaded to my iPod to give new life. I love the shuffle function to go thru and pick all these old songs that I haven't listened to in a while. There is no rhyme or reason to the order in which I pick these albums.


Beth Orton - Daybreaker
I picked up this album in the Summer of 2002 at the Virgin Megastore on Michigan Ave in Chicago. Listening to these tunes remind me of that Holiday.

Cocteau Twins - Stars and Topsoil: a collection 1982-1990

I love dreampop, what can I say? Basically this is a collection of songs showing their progression of sound during the 4AD years.

Charity Empressa - Self-Titled
I am very lucky to have this in my possession as it is sought after and hard to find. This is Eric C (Cupie) of the Prayer Chain, Lassie Foundation, and Cush and his brand of drone, post rock noise dreaminess with a wide guest of vocalist and musicians including Jason Martin and Wayne Everett.

Chapterhouse - Whirlpool

Their first two songs "breather" and "pearl" are some of the finest to come out of that early '90's shoegazer/dreampop era.

Bon Voyage - self-titled

Starflyer 59 plus Julie Martin. Anything Jason Martin works on is magic and Julie has a golden voice.

Belle & Sebastian - the boy with the arab strap

I have bought many albums because of one song. I first met Belle & Sebastian many years ago in Border's at a listening station. The band was relatively new and the album cover had that "Smith's" look to it. Anyway, on listen to "Sleep the Clock Around" and I had to have the album.

Joy Electric - The Tick Tock Treasury
I have every single Joy E release and then some. I am a fan and always will be. I haven't listend to this in a while.

Joy Electric - Robot Rock

I have a lot of Joy E albums still to upload. It has been years since I have listened to Robot Rock.

Jesus and Mary Chain - 21 singles

Noise pop maybe, but not quite dreampop.

Curve - Doppelganger

Another dreampop/shoegazer album with dreamy female vocals from the early '90's.

The Cure - Staring at the Sea

A classic singles album.